


[wherever I go] You Bring Me Home

by QueenieRose53001



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Spoilers for Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, that scene..... you know ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 01:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16567322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenieRose53001/pseuds/QueenieRose53001
Summary: "Taako, Kravitz stands up in front of you. What do you do?"A retelling, of sorts.





	[wherever I go] You Bring Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> One part of an eighteenth birthday present for the friend I dragged into McElroy hell
> 
> title from Sweet Creature by Harry Styles

When the _Sizzle It Up_ caravan exploded, time seemed to stop. Lup and Barry both whipped around to face the noise of the explosion, noticing Taako in the center of the destruction just next to the burnt glass of Phandalin.

“Holy shit, Taako,” his sister screeched at him, her voice carrying over the empty space. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking great! I’m gonna turn this glass to the blue one!” Taako gave her a shit-eating grin and a thumbs-up before bending to touch the black glass.

The mirrored surface of what once was the city of Phandalin turned a deep blue, the color rippling out from where Taako touched the ground. A sudden gust of wind knocked his hat off, sending it flying back towards where Lup and Barry were fighting. And with Taako’s magic, the world burst back into color.

The robes that were wrapped around his sister’s lich form became brighter against her magic fire, and Barry’s jeans became a much deeper blue. The sky above them was the only thing that went duller. The Hunger’s black opalescence seemed to fade, and the forms they were fighting went translucent.  

Taako watched, amazed. The arcane power rolling through him had never been this powerful, never been enough, had never satisfied him. Until now. It was enough now, strong enough to bring them back.

Then, from the sapphire portal, wisps of spectral light rose from the Astral Plane. The lights solidified, taking the form of the doomed city, before the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet razed it to the ground. And in the center of the sapphire mirror, there was Kravitz.

He was kneeling, a hand pressed to the center of his chest, mouth open as he stared down at the sapphire. The other hand threaded through his hair, gripping tightly at it. Kravitz looked up, his red eyes wide and disbelieving as he pulled himself to his feet.

“How-” His voice cut off, and he tried again. “How did you do that?”

Taako couldn’t drag his eyes away from the reaper. Kravitz had been drowning, and Taako had done nothing to try to save him. He had died eight times and never gone to the Astral Plane, and it was still Kravitz’s job to drag him there. But Kravitz had wonder and amazement in his voice as he stared at the elf, and suddenly Taako felt his legs moving.

He sprinted, not slipping once on the perfect surface of the slick gemstone. Taako ran to Kravitz, reaching to grab him and hold him close, but Kravitz pulled back and clapped his hands over his mouth. Taako skidded to a halt, brow furrowing as he watched the reaper begin to breathe heavily into his hands.

“Hold on!” Kravitz said, his face flushing darker, eyes flashing up at him. “I wanna, I want to warm up my face. I don’t want it to be all cold and weird.”

Taako couldn’t help but giggle at that. He reached up and pulled Kravitz’s hand away from his mouth. The reaper smiled down at Taako, and then they were kissing, and it was so nice. It didn’t even matter that Kravitz’s face was still like ice, and it didn’t matter that the world was ending.

Kravitz threaded one of his cold hands into Taako’s long, blonde hair, the other cupping his cheek. Taako looped his arms around Kravitz’s neck, even as they pulled away from each other.

“Okay, forget about how I, uh, short story short, uh, long story short it was—” Taako stumbled, his face flushed nearly the color of Kravitz’s eyes, dimples pressed into his skin as he grinned. “I was rad, natch. How do you still look this good? You’ve been locked in like mud or tar or something in the Astral Plane, you look fantastic!”

Kravitz smiled softly, clearly not expecting the compliment. “It’s a lot of work to look this good,” He joked.

To Taako’s surprise, tears started welling in the corners of his eyes, even though he was still smiling. He took his hand off of Taako’s cheek to wipe the droplets of moisture away before speaking again, replacing his hand against Taako’s hot skin.

“I… Taako, I was trying to get out to get a message to you. I thought,” He trailed off, blinking back more tears. “I thought you were gone. I thought that everything was gone.”

Taako moved his hands, cupping Kravitz’s cheeks for a moment, and the other man leaned into his touch with an inaudible sniffle. The elf took a step backwards, gesturing for Kravitz to stay where he was when he tried to follow after him.

“Well, uh, you’re not that far off,” Taako sputtered. “But you’re right. There has been a terrible loss that you should know about.” He raised his left hand and snapped. The glamour spell he’d been maintaining since Wonderland fell, a few glowing sparks floating to the ground around him.

Kravitz tilted his head, staring at him as the spell wore away. Taako’s golden hair lost some of its luster, less shiny and less voluminous. The gap in between his front teeth closed, the freckles dusting over his nose and cheekbones faded, and deep bags stained the skin under his eyes a deep violet.

Taako shut his eyes, now a less vibrant shade of blue, and took a deep breath, his entire frame shaking. He opened his eyes again, unable to meet Kravitz’s stare. “So, uh. I just wanted to be honest. I’m-- I didn’t wanna catfish you or anything. This is Taako today.”

He got fidgety, playing with a strand of dull blonde hair and staring at his boots. “Um, I had a bad run in while I was saving the world again, and this is what I really look like. And I just wanted you to know that in case this changes anything for you, personally. I thought you should know, now.”

Kravitz watched patiently as Taako cringed and took a moment to look the reaper in the eyes. Taako remembered telling him, a long time ago, that he was afraid that no one else would have him. Kravitz took a step towards him, closing the distance between them. He raised a hand and put it back on Taako’s cheek, thumb brushing idly against the no longer smooth skin. Taako leaned into the touch, shutting his eyes again and bracing himself for what Kravitz was going to say.

“Taako, I…” Kravitz cleared his throat and started over. “I was crazy about you, long before some weird light told me this story about your one hundred year journey through existence where you were fighting for a century to save the world.”

Kravitz hadn’t moved his other hand from Taako’s hair, and he stared down at him like nothing had changed. The reaper took a long breath through his nose, like he needed to prepare himself for what he was about to say.

“I love you, Taako, and at this point, I think that everyone in reality is going to love you after hearing your story, and nothing’s going to change that.”

Taako wanted to cry. He felt the emotions bubbling behind his eyes and in his throat, and all he wanted was to bury his face in his boyfriend’s three-piece suit and just fucking sob. But he was Taako from TV, and he was not going to cry.

Instead, he took another step back. He shifted his weight and put a hand on his hip, pointing the other one at Kravitz. “That was actually a test. Your face is a skull half of the time, so I just wanted to make sure.”

Kravitz nearly doubled over with his laughter. Seeing this, Taako felt the residual emotions drain from him, leaving him with only a teasing annoyed-ness. “Yeah, no fucking kidding.”

“Um, we’ve got a bigger problem here!” From the edge of the sapphire disc, Lup called out to the two of them. “I don’t know how to kill that!”

Taako turned around, and Kravitz looked up, and there was a stone Judge, towering hundreds of feet above them. Taako startled as Kravitz took a few steps in front of him, summoning his scythe with a flourish. “Well, I think I know a few folks that can help.”

He turned back to face Taako, skull flashing underneath his handsome face. “You remember those wayward souls I’ve been imprisoning? Well, uh, I’m giving them some time off for good behavior.”

The Judge started to raise a hand to swat at the group of them, and the spectral hand of Legion grabbed it by its wrist. The conglomeration of souls pulled itself out of the sapphire portal and tackled the Judge, sending the two figures wrestling away from them.

“I need to keep an eye on them, and I need to shepherd this world’s dead, but it’s,” Kravitz cut himself off with a laugh as he turned from Legion back to Taako, cupping his cheek. “It’s so fucking good to see your face again. When I was trapped over there, I just, I thought about you constantly.”

“Um, I mean, me too pretty much, except the world’s ending. So kind of half and half, but still, free thought time was definitely devoted your way. We will hook up after this, no doubt. Let’s go ahead and save... everybody, pretty much, and then we’ll move on to that. Does that sound good to you?”

Kravitz smiled harder, pressing a kiss to Taako’s forehead. It was still kind of clammy, but Taako couldn’t bring himself to care. He began to pull away, beginning the transformation into his skeletal reaper form. Taako’s eyes widened. “Oh, wait, shit!”

The reaper froze, skin only covering half of his face, one eye socket empty spare for a glowing red light. Taako gestured behind him, to where his sister was still watching them. “One thing before you go. This is my sister!”

Lup floated towards them, followed closely by Barry scrambling after her on foot. In his body, he slipped around on the slick stone, even with his heavily treaded boots. Lup paused just behind her brother, looking down at the reaper.

“What’s up, Ghost Rider?” Lup quipped, giving a small wave. Below her, Barry offered a wave to Kravitz, his other hand pressed into a wound on his stomach that stained his white shirt red. Kravitz summoned his scythe, and he waved back at the two of them awkwardly.

He leaned towards Taako, his skull very close to his ear. “You know we’re going to have to talk about the fact that your sister’s a lich, right?”

Taako sighed. “Yeah, I assumed.”

Kravitz smiled again and took a step back. Completing his transition to his reaper form, his skull seemed to grin as he stretched a hand out for Taako to shake. “Let’s figure it out after we save the world, okay?”

Taako took it. “Deal.”

Kravitz spared Taako one last glance over his shoulder as he flew off, and Taako knew they were going to be okay. They just had to make it through this night, through the day of Story and Song, and they’d be good. Just this once, Taako was good right here.

**Author's Note:**

> hey...  
> hey rachel...
> 
>  
> 
> TAKE IT BACK BY JIMMY BUFFETT


End file.
